Ohio History Journal
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THEBATTLE OF
PICARDY
HEROIC SERVICE OF THREE OHIO SOLDIERS
In an article of absorbing interest
Frank H. Simonds
in the Review of Reviews, for
March, 1920, describes
the great German offensive which began March 21, 1918.
The Germans called this "the Kaiser's
Battle," the Eng-
lish have named it the "Second
Battle of the Somme,"
but it will probably be more generally
and permanently
known as the "Battle of
Picardy."
In the number of men engaged and the
losses it was
the greatest battle in all recorded
time. In fifteen days
Germany poured over 1,000,000 men into
this crucible
of war. The English alone lost 175,000
men, "a num-
ber equal to the combined forces of
Meade and Lee at
Gettysburg." In the issue at stake
it was pivotal and
momentous. Upon the results hung the
fate of Europe
and the world. The British, French and
German gen-
erals who led in this mighty combat had
recorded their
testimony and this enabled Simonds to
write with added
authority of "those terrible and
magnificent days,"
which may well be characterized as
"the Armageddon
of history."
The German advance, which for days
swept every-
thing before it, was halted in front of
Amiens, where
"the last convulsions" of the
gigantic struggle ended.
The Germans failed to reach the channel
ports or Paris
-their two prime objectives. The climax
of their
striving and sacrifice was in vain.
After describing the prodigies of
heroism and en-
durance exhibited by the British and
the French,
Simonds pays tribute to the little band
of American engi-
neers who were caught in this red
whirlwind of war:
"Memorable amidst the crowd of
unforgettable incidents
is the exploit of Sanderman Carey, in
command of a force
(6)
The Battle of Picardy. 7
gathered from all ranks and conditions *
* * and including
a detachment belonging to that regiment
of American Engineers
who volunteered when Marwitz broke the
British line at Cambrai
in the previous year. With this
'scratch' force Carey barred the
road to Amiens when it lay open to the
German advance. He
not only held the gate, but by a
despairing counter attack actually
threw the enemy back."
Only 2200 American soldiers were caught
in the
great German drive. They were the
Twelfth Regiment
of Engineers and a detachment of two
companies of the
Sixth Engineers. The Twelfth were at
Cambrai in 1917
but it is to the detachment of the
Sixth that Simonds
refers especially in the above, though all
were engaged
at about the same place in the
"Somme defensive."
Our readers will be interested to know
that among
these engineers were Sergeant E. Gray
Swingle of
Newark and Private Frank J. Goldcamp of
Ironton who
were among the very first of the
expeditionary troops
from Ohio to give their lives for the
Allied cause. With
them in their last hours was Wagoner
Carl G. Duncan,
at present a student in college at
Cedarville, Ohio, who
lives to tell the story of their service.
He has consented
to do this at the special request of
the Editor of the
QUARTERLY and his straight-forward,
modest statement
is now a part of the archives of our
Society with thou-
sands of other letters and manuscripts
relating to the
World War. We present the following:
NARRATIVE OF WAGONER DUNCAN
On the night of March 27, 1918, the
Sixth Regiment,
U. S. Engineers took over a section of
the front line
trenches near Hamel and
Warfusee-Abancourt in the
Somme district. Nearly all of the Headquarters
Com-
pany and also nearly all of Company B.
and Company
D. took over these trenches. The rest
of the regiment
was still in the Marne district. It was
about midnight
when we reached the line.
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seemed to have the idea that he was captured. The next morning as soon as the fog had cleared away Captain Harris of Company B. "spotted" Swingle lying out in a wheat field in No Man's Land. He was five or six hundred yards out from our lines and ap- parently near the German lines. He was headed toward us and trying to crawl back but could not make any |
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10 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications.
in plain view of the Germans nearly
directly off to the
right, about four or five hundred yards
away.
As we came close to Swingle he said,
"Why didn't
you bring a stretcher? How do you
expect to take me
in?"
Goldcamp said, "We'll get you in,
Sergeant, if you
can stand it."
Swingle gritted his teeth and said,
"I'll stand it, you
boys should never have come out after
me."
Goldcamp spoke, encouraging him.
By that time we had started back with
him. Gold-
camp had Swingle by the left arm, I had
the right, so
was on the left of Goldcamp. As we slid
backwards we
pulled Swingle with us. His legs
dangled along behind
like ropes. Blood streaked the green
wheat as we pulled
him along. His face was ghastly white.
He suffered
terrible pains, but he never whimpered
or gave up once.
We had taken him about ten or fifteen
yards, when
"zip, zip", the bullets began
to come and then Swingle
gave a lurch and said:
"Oh, they have us now. You boys
should never have
come out for me."
Goldcamp tried to comfort him, when
"zip" - an-
other bullet pierced Goldcamp's chest
and hit me in the
right side. Goldcamp gave a sort of
choking cough
"O-o-o God" as he turned over
one complete turn and
died.
The bullet knocked me stiff for a few
seconds, and
as I came to my senses the bullets were
zipping over me.
I began to roll back towards our lines.
The bullets kept
coming so I quickly decided to play
"possum." I stopped
dead still. The firing ceased. Swingle
was lying about
ten feet away, off to my left and in
front of me, Gold-
camp was in front of him.
Swingle asked if I were hurt badly. I
told him I
was hit on the right side but was not
badly hurt. He
called to Goldcamp several times but
received no
response.
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The Battle of Picardy. 11 The first bullet had hit Swingle and weakened him a great deal. He suffered terribly but he held up. He seemed to feel so badly about Goldcamp and me. He said, "You boys should never have come out after me." The men with the rifles who were down below us called up and asked what had happened. I told them that Goldcamp was dead, Swingle was badly wounded and that I was slightly hurt. The riflemen said they would go back in and |
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come out after us that night. When Swingle heard what they said, he moaned, "If they don't come before dark I will be frozen to death." I lay there for nearly two hours before I real- ized that I would suffer the same fate. I decided that I would rather be shot dead than freeze to death. Then there was a chance that I might get safely back and have a stretcher sent for Swingle. I staggered to my feet and started but fainted when about two- thirds of the way in. My |
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brother who was in my squad and another lad came out and took me on in. Just then a Scotch Lieutenant was going out to examine us. He crawled on out and found that Swingle and Goldcamp had made the supreme sacrifice. A MODEST STATEMENT It will be noted that Wagoner Duncan is very modest in regard to his own service. The impression left is |
12
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
that he was only slightly wounded. The
facts are that
the bullet which crashed into his side
broke two ribs
and lodged in the fleshy part of his
back from which it
was removed. Serious complications afterward set in
and he was in the hospital from the
time he received
the wound till January the following
year when he re-
turned to the United States and was
later discharged.
Swingle and Goldcamp were awarded the
Distinguished
Service Cross and to Wagoner Carl G.
Duncan was
given "the Military Medal for
gallantry while on patrol
March 28, 1918."
In conversation Wagoner Duncan said
that the
Americans had too few engaged in this
great battle
to make their influence perceptibly
felt. It is scarcely
necessary to add, however, that those
who were in the
battle, like their fellow engineers at
Cambrai the year
before, showed by devotion to duty and
their willing-
ness to lay down life itself in an
effort to rescue a com-
rade the spirit that pervaded our
expeditionary forces
- the spirit that later triumphed at
Chateau Thierry,
St. Mihiel and the Argonne.
THEBATTLE OF
PICARDY
HEROIC SERVICE OF THREE OHIO SOLDIERS
In an article of absorbing interest
Frank H. Simonds
in the Review of Reviews, for
March, 1920, describes
the great German offensive which began March 21, 1918.
The Germans called this "the Kaiser's
Battle," the Eng-
lish have named it the "Second
Battle of the Somme,"
but it will probably be more generally
and permanently
known as the "Battle of
Picardy."
In the number of men engaged and the
losses it was
the greatest battle in all recorded
time. In fifteen days
Germany poured over 1,000,000 men into
this crucible
of war. The English alone lost 175,000
men, "a num-
ber equal to the combined forces of
Meade and Lee at
Gettysburg." In the issue at stake
it was pivotal and
momentous. Upon the results hung the
fate of Europe
and the world. The British, French and
German gen-
erals who led in this mighty combat had
recorded their
testimony and this enabled Simonds to
write with added
authority of "those terrible and
magnificent days,"
which may well be characterized as
"the Armageddon
of history."
The German advance, which for days
swept every-
thing before it, was halted in front of
Amiens, where
"the last convulsions" of the
gigantic struggle ended.
The Germans failed to reach the channel
ports or Paris
-their two prime objectives. The climax
of their
striving and sacrifice was in vain.
After describing the prodigies of
heroism and en-
durance exhibited by the British and
the French,
Simonds pays tribute to the little band
of American engi-
neers who were caught in this red
whirlwind of war:
"Memorable amidst the crowd of
unforgettable incidents
is the exploit of Sanderman Carey, in
command of a force
(6)
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